PM Comparison Test - The New B-Cars: Day 1

Oct 30, 2009

2:00 am, Mar. 21--We made it here to our testing location in Southern California about an hour ago. So far we've spent the most time with the Nissan Versa, a roomy four-door hatchback. Having never been in the car before tonight, it was confidence-inspiring pulling out of LA in a rainstorm on the freeway. Most of the controls came easy to hand and we were keeping up with 80-mph traffic in no time.

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In the morning, we'll head out to the track with our three yearlings (the Nissan, Honda and Toyota are all pre-production models) and one veteran--the Kia Rio is updated but not all new. They all have manual gearboxes to keep their as-tested prices down. And here are our predictions for how things will shake out:

The Versa should win our acceleration tests with its punchy four-cylinder, and it'll win friends for its sedanlike interior volume. The Fit will be the best handler of the bunch through the cones, and its stick will have the most positive shift feel. The Yaris will walk away with the most points for overall build quality. And the Rio will kick butt with its lowest price—it even has crank windows.